“The Pittsburgh Kid” Neil Walker has retired.
On the “30 with Murti” podcast” on Fan sister station WFAN in New York, the infielder revealed after no one picked him up during Spring Training he decided to hang up his cleats.
“Once Opening Day kind of rolled around, I kind of decided I’m good,” said Walker. “I feel like I had a good run,” said Walker.
Walker was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2004 Amateur draft out of Pine-Richland.
Walker spent seven of his first 12 seasons with his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates and was instrumental in the Pirates success between 2013-2015.
“More than anything I feel fortunate to play the game at the highest level for as long as I did and to be able to do things like play in my hometown for as long as I did and be a part of some really good teams and a lot of different stops so I have no regrets in my career and I feel really fortunate about that,” said Walker.
Walked talk to Murti about growing up a Pirates fan and the pain he felt when Sid Bream scored that unforgettable run to send the Braves to the World Series and the Pirates to losing seasons for the next two decades.
“playing in the Wild Card game, it really was like a columniation of what was 20 years of losing, the team not even being over .500 and to be a part of that, I remember we clinched to go over .500 against the Texas Rangers in mid-September . . . I remember the last out came to me and I said give me the ball, give me the ball,” said Walker. “One of my teammates was like why did you want that ball after the game and I said you realize this is a symbol of the last 20 years of under .500 baseball.”
Walker also played for the Mets, Brewers, Yankees, Marlins and ended his career with the Phillies.
Walker finishes he career with lifetime batting average of .267 with 1,224 hits and 149 home runs.
Walker and his family still live in the Pittsburgh area. In 2019, construction began on a Little League field named after Walker.
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Listen to the entire conversation below.